Mayor De Blasio Gets a Free Ride

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio greets commuters as he rides the subway in the Manhattan on April.

Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

New York City mayors have long taken the subway to burnish their populist credentials, even Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who proudly brandished a MetroCard when he walked through the turnstiles.

On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio walked into the subway through an emergency exit door at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center stop without paying his fare, ushered through by his security team and other government officials after an event promoting a Democratic National Convention bid for 2016.

The mayor’s aides said the free ride wasn’t the norm for the city’s chief executive.

“The mayor pays for his subway rides,” a spokeswoman said. “This afternoon was an exceptional case, where given the amount of activity, he was ushered through the gate by NYPD and MTA personnel.”

Adam Lisberg, a spokesman for the MTA, said there is no policy that allows government officials to get a free ride on the subway. “But as you saw, a combination of MTA and NYPD personnel directed the mayor and the many, many people in his group through the emergency exit in order to facilitate a smooth and orderly progression through a busy and crowded station,” Mr. Lisberg said.

“The MTA and NYPD have great discretion to take appropriate actions when necessary for both security concerns and crowd control,” he added.

The base fare for a ride on the subway is $2.50.

Mr. de Blasio’s subway ride was part of his promotion of the city’s bid to bring the Democratic National Convention to Brooklyn, showing how easy it would be to travel between Manhattan hotel rooms and the Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn. The mayor and officials from the Democratic National Committee traveled by subway from midtown Manhattan to the Barclays Center before holding a news conference there.

When Mr. de Blasio entered the subway station at the Barclays Center – sometime before noon — it wasn’t particularly crowded. (At the time of the press event, there was an enormous police presence, though, with roughly a half a dozen uniformed officers stationed at the main stairwell.)

Mr. de Blasio touted New York City’s public transit capabilities during his pitch for the 2016 presidential convention. He noted that it took roughly 25 minutes to get to the Barclays Center from midtown Manhattan via subway.

“The ride this morning went smoothly,” the mayor said, referring to the trip with the DNC officials. “It was a great opportunity for all of us to spend some time together and we were deep in conversation and before you knew it we were here.”

The mayor said the subway ride showcases “how easy” it is to get from Manhattan to the arena. “The ease of transportation is one of the great elements that New York City brings to the equation,” he said.

Then, after the news conference ended, he re-entered the subway without paying, taking the Lexington Avenue Line to Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The mayor got a free ride to the news conference as well, being ushered along with DNC officials through the emergency gate by the MTA and NYPD “to keep the group close and together,” Mr. Lisberg said. After the event, the mayor wasn’t traveling with the DNC officials.

The mayor’s predecessor, Mr. Bloomberg, pledged during his first campaign for City Hall in 2001 to take mass transit every day. And he was frequently spotted by the media swiping his Metro card, which he said he paid for himself.

Mr. de Blasio, who is often admired as an expert in the art of political stagecraft, often seeks to portray himself publicly as a populist who shuns the trappings of high office. In January, he conspicuously shoveled snow outside his family’s Brooklyn rowhouse, and this summer when traveling in Italy he rolled a suitcase at the airport in front of journalists.